


the moon and the sun

by fasha



Category: Bohemian Rhapsody (Movie 2018) Actor RPF
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-19
Updated: 2020-03-27
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:13:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23213824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fasha/pseuds/fasha
Summary: Joe's convinced that Ben Hardy hated his guts and despite this belief, he made attempts to befriend the bloke with hopes that Ben would change his perspective towards him.Little did he know that "hate" wasn't even close to what Ben was feeling towards him.
Relationships: Ben Hardy/Joe Mazzello
Comments: 5
Kudos: 14





	1. Chapter 1

Joe was not particularly fond of Ben Hardy.

Sure, the guy was gorgeous — super gorgeous, actually — and he spoke with an accent that made boys and girls swoon, but he could not help but feel that Ben, somehow, detest him.

Frankly speaking, Joe just could never stand knowing that someone doesn't like him. He knew he can be a little bit loud sometimes, maybe a tad bit annoying too. He was aware that it was impossible to make everyone loves him, but when one person (read: Ben Hardy) openly show their dislike towards Joe, it made him feel somewhat guilty and also, for some unexplainable reason, fearful.

They shared a few classes together since last year, and no matter how hard Joe attempted to befriend the guy, Ben never seemed to respond back. He caught Ben staring at him with a frown sometimes, which made him swallow in fear because his glare was so intense it made Joe wanted to bow down and ask for forgiveness.

Joe considered himself as the class clown, and it was not rare for him to crack a joke once in a while. Often, he found himself glancing towards Ben to see his reaction. Instead of laughing or at least letting out an amused chuckle like everybody in class, Ben only glanced elsewhere, his lips were not curving upwards like it was supposed to and seeing that with his two own eyes made Joe frown too.

He wondered what had he ever done to Ben that made him loathe Joe that much. Joe was everyone's friend, the person everybody said "hi" to when they pass by each other in the hallway. One time, Joe gave Ben a cheery greeting, silently expecting Ben to light up a bit and reply with a smile. His expectation was immediately crushed the moment the word, "Hello," left his mouth because Ben only pressed his lips into a thin smile (which, look so fucking forced, in Joe's opinion) and a nod. Not even a single word left his lips. It was as if he decided that he should never waste a breath on Joe.

Rami insisted that Joe was being overdramatic. Joe begged to differ.

"How can you not see the hate in his eyes when he glance at me?" Joe groaned, frustrated that Rami was dismissing this issue nonchalantly.

Rami rolled his eyes as he let out a sigh. "He's probably shy, Joe. I told you he's a good guy. He was—"

"Your partner for Entrepreneurship, I know," Joe interrupted, having memorized Rami's line every single time Joe started ranting about Ben.

Rami gave Joe a shit-eating grin and a nod.

"That doesn't mean he's nice to me. It seems like he's nice to everyone BUT me. He fucking hates me, I just know it," Joe whined petulantly, folding his arms in an exaggerated manner. "Why does he hate me?!"

Rami let out an exasperated sigh before picking up his cup from the wooden table. "Have you ever considered asking him, maybe? You're just assuming things without solid proof, Mazzello."

"I have proof!"

Rami took a sip of his tea as he raised an eyebrow.

"He doesn't laugh at my jokes."

Rami shrugged before placing the cup on top of the table. "I mean, your jokes are lame sometimes."

Joe let out the most dramatic gasp of the century, feigning offence as he threw a hand on to his chest. "How dare you!"

Rami gave him another shrug.

"He never smiles at me. He always look away when our eyes meet, and he never says 'hi' or initiate a conversation with me," Joe huffed, unfolding his arms as he straightened his back against the chair. "Fuck, I hate him. He's such a dick."

Rami chuckled, shaking his head at the absurdity that left Joe's mouth. "Joe, oh sweet sweet Joe."

Joe scrunched his nose, a little bit annoyed at the mockery tone Rami used on him.

"I know he's intimidating, I feel you, mate. Those blue eyes are mesmerising as fuck, I get that. But trust me," Rami leaned in as if the action would help to get his words stuck inside Joe's brain, "He's a nice person, very shy, actually. You gotta befriend him to see that he's not an asshole."

"And what did you think I've been doing all those weeks of me attempting to start a decent conversation?"

"Scaring him," Rami replied nonchalantly.

"I don't — you know what, forget it! He's not worth talking about anyway. Talking about him only gets on my nerve."

"You're the one who brought him up, you idiot."

So, yeah, it made Joe nervous that Ben hated him. After failing to have Ben warming up to him, Joe gave up. Ben hated his guts, he could just feel it in his bones. This, in turn, made Joe wanted to make Ben un-hate him, if such a thing was possible. However, he now resorted to staying out of Ben's vision for as long as he could. The last thing he wanted was for Ben to hate him more than he already did.

Ben wanted to strangle himself for being such a wuss.

Who would have thought that saying 'hi' took a lot of effort and preparation? The first time Joe greeted him in the hallways, Ben had gawk at him. His heart was beating so fast that all the noises in his surroundings decreased to just a faint buzz, leaving only the sound of his heartbeat in his ears. He was not proud of himself for just staring at Joe when he could have given him a normal response, but God must've heard his prayers because Joe also greeted him the next day.

If Joe was another person, it would be easier. He wouldn't have to go through the early morning routine of practicing countless of 'hellos' in front of the mirror.

Ben first noticed Joe at the beginning of the year in the cafeteria. Joe's laugh was boisterous, it made nearly every head to turn towards the source of the noise. Ben never liked loud, always preferring silence. He had to admit that initially, he didn't have a good impression on Joe and naturally, Ben wanted to avoid the guy as best as he could but it was proven difficult when they shared three classes together.

Unlike Ben, Joe had friends everywhere. It was impressive and truth be told, Ben was a bit envious of his ability of making friends in a short amount of time. He hated how his eyes would manage to travel to find Joe, and he would spend a good two minutes admiring how he talked and how he smiled and how he was just being himself in general.

Whenever Joe turned to meet his eyes, Ben had to abruptly look away, afraid that he would get caught staring.

Over time, Ben got used to Joe's sudden erupted laughter, of his hilarious (and lame) jokes, and how his lips formed into a small smile in satisfaction whenever people laughed at what he did.

And, lo and fucking behold, Ben found himself unable to stop the butterflies from flying around his stomach, threatening to burst out of his chest, whenever he saw Joe. He tried his best to avoid Joe, not wanting to let his feelings developed any further, but it was difficult when Joe was kind enough to start a conversation with him.

Most of the time, it was Joe who did all the talking. Ben only responded with a nod and curt answers, afraid that his voice might betray him if he decided to speak. Besides, he did not really mind listening to Joe talked. Joe's voice was pleasant to listen to.

Ben kind of wished that Joe would stop being so kind towards him, his heart could not simply handle having feelings for someone so unreachable. A part of him was flattered that Joe chose to talk to him instead of the others, however, another part of him was convinced that Joe was only pitying him.

And if there was anything Ben disliked the most, it would be having someone pitying him.

Ben sighed, running his fingers through his blonde locks as he made his way to the IT building with his backpack hanging from one shoulder.

It scared him that he had a humongous crush towards Joe, that all he prattled about to Lucy was _Joe this, Joe that_. Lucy was probably irritated, but the girl was a literal angel, so even if she did, she did not voice her annoyance out. She advised him to grow some balls and confess.

But the thought of Joe looking at him in disgust and turning him down feared him. He had a fragile heart, and to have Joe shatter it... he just simply could not go through with it.

"Just tell him!" Lucy persisted. "You won't know unless you tell him, yeah?"

"But—but, what if he's disgusted? What if he hates me?"

"Babes, he won't! He's a gentle soul, he wouldn't do that. Besides, if he lets you down, I know he'll do it gently."

"Fuck," Ben muttered in horror. The realisation of the possibility of Joe rejecting him made him want to do a backflip on the sun.

Seeing the panic across Ben's face, Lucy immediately placed both of her hands on his knees as if for support. "I know it's bloody scary, but it's better to have your heart broken early rather than waiting for your feelings to grow and grow, because that'll be more painful."

"I suppose you are correct..."

"I know I am," she smirked. "So just let him know, won't you?"

Ben sighed. "I'll think about it."


	2. Chapter 2

There was absolutely no way in hell (or heaven) Ben would take the first step. He was aware that Lucy was being nice to him, but her exact words weren't exactly something Ben felt safe hearing. _Gently letting Ben down?_ Oh fuck no. He was very much content admiring Joe from a distance, thank you very much.

Why should he torment himself by expressing his feelings towards his object of adoration? Not only he would be humiliating himself, but Joe would probably never talk to him again. It was already enough that Ben had difficulty talking to Joe, he did not need another factor to contribute to his awkwardness when Joe spoke to him.

If he were to compare the both of them, Joe would be the goddamn sun and Ben would be the insignificant speck of dust floating in air without purpose. Sure, Ben had a fair share of crushes and he had been in a few short-lived relationships before, but this crush towards Joe did not make any sense.

Joe was different from his other crushes. It did not start with their hands brushing against each other or Joe opening the door for Ben. In fact, if anything, Joe was the type of person he would be likely to stay away from. But Joe was Joe, and Ben found himself wanting to get closer, as if there was some force pushing him towards the ginger.

Ben sighed, not bothering to turn his laptop off and just closed it instead as was going to have another class after this, so he did not bother. He entered the class quietly, gaze sweeping the classroom in search for an empty seat. Luckily for him, his usual seat was almost never taken.

He preferred the backseat, where he did not have to be worried of people seeing what he was doing. Besides, sitting at the back of the classroom allowed him to gaze out of the window and the lecturer would not notice. Another benefit of sitting there was that he had a full view of Joe.

The drawback, however, was that Joe could never stay in one place. Sometimes he would sit at the very front, other times he would choose to sit in the middle. Not to mention that he loved talking and very often he would turn around to talk to his friends. And when he did, they never failed to make eye contact.

Ben berated himself for staring so openly, almost as if he was mesmerized whenever Joe was in the room. To save face, he would turn away abruptly, pretending to focus on the lecturer although he was already caught in the act.

Multimedia and Design was not exactly Ben's favourite.

It required him to design something, which was not his forte. He barely gotten a B for their first and second assignment, and all he had to do was create a poster and design a website. Knowing that he had to work in a group to create a short film for the third assignment had him in tears.

But it was Joe's favourite. Ben could easily tell by how enthusiastic he was during practical, how he seemed to shine more brighter when he entered class and how he had gotten a perfect A for the tutorials and assignments.

Ben was brought back to Earth when he heard a loud noise from outside the classroom. Even before the person entered, Ben knew who it was. Joe went through the entrance shortly after, he was talking animatedly with Allen about something Ben could not grasp.

For an unexplainable reason, Ben took a deep breath before straightening his back against his seat. He began tapping his foot lightly, heart beating rather erratically at the sight of Joe.

Joe was only wearing a plain white shirt, along with jeans that hugged his legs wonderfully but it was enough to make Ben's heart threatened to jump out of the window.

Their lecturer arrived shortly after, looking a bit disoriented as his hair was unkempt. The lecture went as usual, a few slides from powerpoint followed by examples and demonstrations. It was after the demonstration when Mr. Fray announced, "I'm releasing the third assignment today."

Students let out a chorus of groans simultaneously. Ben included.

From his seat, Ben could see Joe perked up with interest at the mention of assignment. Ben felt his lips slightly quirked into a small smile. It made his chest swell how Joe was so passionate in doing what he was doing. It was admirable, really, something Ben aspired to be. To have such passion that your creation made people _feel_ , made their jaws drop in awe.

"Yeah, I know, I know!" Mr. Fray sighed, scratching his head in exasperation. "This assignment requires video editing, and it's the most important one yet as it counts as 40% of your overall grades."

Ben saw Joe turned towards Maggie, saying something Ben could not hear from that distance. Joe let out a small laugh at something Maggie said before focusing his attention back to Mr. Fray.

"Each group will consist of four to five people, you can decide your role by your own. Remember, no plagiarism will be tolerated and anyone who doesn't contribute will not be given any marks."

To be frank, Ben would rather work alone. He was not a terrible team mate, in fact he worked well with others. However, he felt uncomfortable asking favours from others. And being in a team meant that they were sharing a grade, and Ben hated the expectations and pressure.

He twisted his lips to the sides a bit, mind filled with thoughts about who he wanted to be grouped with. He did not have friends in this class, only people he would speak to when it was necessary. It did not help that he did not have any other classes with any of them except for Joe and Harry, but he was not exactly best friends with either of them.

His worries were soon shoved aside when Mr. Fray continued, "And to be fair, I will randomly choose your team members."

A collective gasp could be heard resonating inside the room, a few students were already protesting. Ben shrugged, leaning back to his seat and watched in amusement as those with friends protested against the idea. People with Ben, ones without anyone in the class, was at ease.

With his laptop connected to the projector, Mr. Fray ignored the pleas from his students and proceeded to go to a website for randomising team members. Ben did not really mind being with anybody, even though he was hoping that he would not get Joe. Joe was the last person Ben wanted to be grouped with.

Having his crush as a teammate was disastrous enough, and having Joe – _smart, skilled and passionate Joe_ – was undeniably, very intimidating.

Before Ben could blink, Mr. Fray finished copy pasting their names and immediately clicked enter.

Ben did not realise he was holding his breath when the result was displayed on the board shortly after. He scanned for his name and—  
  


** Group 4 **

Emilia Clarke

Ben Hardy

Grant Gustin

Joe Mazzello

"Wait..." Ben squinted his eyes as he reread the name list for this team, wondering whether his eyes were defying him or he was hallucinating the whole thing. No matter how many times he kept on reading, it stayed the same.

The last name still read Joe Mazzello.

And the second name still read as his.

He began to feel dizzy at the sudden wave of realisation that hit him. Eyes widened, he carefully glanced towards Joe, who was already facing him. As soon as their eyes met, Joe gave him a small smile and a wave.

Ben swallowed.

Mustering his courage, he raised a hand to return the wave.

Joe's grin grew wider before giving him a thumbs up.

Oh, he was _so so_ fucked.  
  


▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬  
  


Creating a short film for an assignment seemed like a dream came true. To say Joe was excited would be an understatement of the century. He was beyond eager. He had been looking forward to video editing since forever and there was absolutely no way anyone could screw this up.

He already had bits of plot in his mind, something that was born from his discussion with Maggie a few weeks ago. If he was lucky, if any god out there was listening, he would team up with Maggie. The moment Mr. Fray pressed enter, Joe was praying so hard he squeezed his eyes.

He was ready to barter with God, to give up cheese for a week to be a team with Maggie. Perhaps his proposition was weak, or maybe the gods were simply not listening, because the moment he opened his eyes and looked for Maggie's name, his name was not there with hers.

Confused, he read the name list one by one in an attempt to locate his name. When he did find it, he could hear a glass shattering — which represented his hope – inside his head.

It was not as if he had any problems with any of his teammate, oh no, Joe was always cool with everybody. Everybody except one.

He talked with Emilia plenty of times before, a sweet girl she was. Grant was an amazing team member, they clicked the moment they were partnered up. And Ben? Fuck, just when Joe had finally given up hope of befriending Ben, the gods gone and did this to him. He was finally accepting the fact that he and Ben will never get along with each other, and this just had to happen.

' _Fucking great.'_

He wondered how long would Ben will be able to tolerate him before the bloke exploded and strangle Joe with his bare hands.

Pressing his lips into a straight line, he turned around in his seat to face Ben. He watched as Ben's eyes went from squinting to widening in shock. Joe tampered down the smile that threatened to take over his face at the sight, it was almost adorable. When Ben caught his eyes, Joe smiled, genuinely this time and waved.

He wanted to stab himself with Jen's mechanical pencil for doing that. It was an impulsive reaction, and he was glad that Ben replied with a wave instead of frowning like he usually did. Seeing Ben waving to him only made him grin even wider, already proud that Ben was being responsive towards him. He gave Ben a thumb up, as if telling him a good job at their progress before turning back to face the front.

Despite the incessant voice inside his head yelling at him to just ask Rami for Ben's phone number, Joe decided to go against it. After Mr. Fray was done explaining the assignment and dismissing them, he left the classroom only to wait for Ben outside.

He tapped his foot on the floor, anxious at the thought of conversing with Ben. From past experiences, none of them were pleasant. It was always one-sided, leaving Joe feeling like a dickhead for prattling on and on while Ben only stare at him, ready to snap his neck in half for being unable to shut the fuck up.

After what felt like an eternity Ben finally stepped out of the classroom, fumbling with the zipper of his backpack, unaware that Joe was waiting. He ignored how his mouth felt as dry as the Sahara Desert and got onto his feet to approach Ben.

"Hey, Ben!"

Ben halted, startled at the sudden loud noise calling out to him.

Joe licked his lips nervously, one hand in the pocket of his jeans, finger caressing the screen of his phone.

The blonde gave him a small smile, not bothering to speak up. Joe brushed it off as he took out his phone. "I was wondering if you can give me your phone number?"

"W-what?" Ben choked out, eyes wide as saucers, looking so scandalous as if Joe had just told him that he had run over his dog.

"It's for the group chat!" he answered, a little too quick and defensive for his own liking. "I have Gustin's and Emilia's, but I don't have yours."

"Oh, alright then."

"Here," Joe beamed, unlocking his phone before handing it to Ben.

Ben took it rather gently, careful not to let it drop. Joe only watched as he tapped his number. Ben reread the number again for confirmation before handing it back to Joe.

"Thanks! I'm looking forward to working with you!"

Ben only replied with a smile, before muttering a, "Bye," and walking away from Joe.

Joe glanced at his phone, saving his number as _'asshole'_ before turning his heels to go to his next class.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be completely honest, this was supposed to be a short fiction for Valentine's Day where Benny confesses his adoration for Joe, but I guess I love their characters here that I decided to make it tad longer than I planned.
> 
> This whole chapter was impromptu and I found myself enjoying writing this after being on a writing break for so long.
> 
> Big thanks to those who leave feedbacks and kudos; you guys are the reason there's a new chapter <3
> 
> ◼Talk to me on twitter [twitter.com/kafeuka]
> 
> ◼ or send me prompts / requests on my cc [curicouscat.com/lovemazzello]


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